George Foreman Rotisserie roasting

by **josh_robb** » Fri Dec 03, 2004 9:21 pm

Has anyone tried this? I came across them today in the Argos catalogue for £29.99 and got all excited. There's some discussion about them on a.c but it doesn't seem that conclusive.

1. Something about lining the window with foil to reflect heat
2. Using a variac to up the input voltage (doesn't seem like a great idea).

I was wondering if anyone here had any 240 volt experience with them. If they work then it seems like a great way of being able to roast bigger quantities than a popper without the space requirements of a BBQ roaster. (Some of us live in urban apartments with _tiny_ balconies).

Or should I just wait for the Joe Roaster... (which sounds essentially the same - but pre modded with smoke control etc).

j.

p.s. I came across this while looking for a convection oven (was thinking about trying some variation on the Stir Crazy + Convection oven method http://www.bish.ws/coffee/TurboCrazy.html if anyone has any ideas about that.) Only apparently over here they aren't called convection ovens. (They are in NZ). Does anyone know what these things are called this side of the pond?

by **matts** » Fri Dec 03, 2004 11:01 pm

Gidday

Looks interesting. The key will be the air temperature inside the thing and the wattage I suppose, but if it's got a 3 hr timer and can roast a whole chicken it can't be that low. And everything works better at 240v. Can you get a look at one to get the wattage? Ultimately you might have to speculate the £ and get one to see, but if it doesn't get hot enough you might be able mess with the thermostat and get it up enough, simonp would be the man to ask.

Matt
'it's a lot less than a Hottop :wink:

'

by **Steve** » Fri Dec 03, 2004 11:31 pm

whats happening with the whole Joe Roaster thing? I think someone said the plans had changed but I could be confussed (nothing new there)

by **phil** » Sat Dec 04, 2004 9:49 am

Joe's till on the case. He had some problems which slowed him down but last I heard it's still happening. Sometime.

by **josh_robb** » Sat Dec 04, 2004 12:54 pm

So far I can only find them at Argos so it's difficult to check the wattage. I just tried ordering one but they're out of stock. I'll have another look around interweb and see if I can find a retailer who stocks them so I can take a look at the specs. Modding the thermostat was exactly what I was thinking about as I was going to sleep last night.

How important is smoke extraction to roast quality?

Oh and do you think I should at least have a crack on a popper first? (I've obviously been here to long - I'm making pun's). The idea of all that faffing about to roast 2-3 days of coffee _really_ doesn't appeal.

j.

'englishness is catching'

by **Raf** » Sat Dec 04, 2004 1:20 pm

josh_robb wrote:The idea of all that faffing about to roast 2-3 days of coffee _really_ doesn't appeal.

Hmm, we're opening quite a wide gap for Phil to bulldozer his "buy a Hottop"-truck through

, but I agree with you. I'm waiting for either a small fortune to buy the HT or the Joe roaster to roast my own beans reliably and cheap. And oh, my, now here comes Chris with the modded popper and laptop brigade... :arrow:

runs for exit :arrow:

by **phil** » Sat Dec 04, 2004 1:24 pm

Awww, leave me alone guys! :cry:

Jeez, you'd think it was *me* selling the bloody things ..... ! :roll:

by **josh_robb** » Sat Dec 04, 2004 1:47 pm

I'd be keen... you have convinced me that they are a great roaster! My only problem is with the price. £499 is a lot of money (for me anyway - my machine cost £140). The attractiveness of the Foreman is primarily the price (assuming it can be made to work). I need to figure out how/where to get a drum.

j.

by **phil** » Sat Dec 04, 2004 2:50 pm

Talk to matts. He may be able to help, having built a barbie roaster himself.

by **josh_robb** » Sat Dec 04, 2004 3:42 pm

Yeah - from memory Matt's is like 1/4 inch commercial steel. I'm not sure the motor on the foreman would even be able to turn something that heavy.

j.

'Matt's garage is not for cars :lol:

'

by **matts** » Sun Dec 05, 2004 8:41 pm

josh_robb wrote:Yeah - from memory Matt's is like 1/4 inch commercial steel. I'm not sure the motor on the foreman would even be able to turn something that heavy.

I only had one made :idea:

because the stainless drums I could find were not big enough. This is where you need to have a sniff around and a little 'think outside the box' (terrible expression), I looked at everything from basket steamers in kitchen shops to toilet brush holders in Homebase, basically if it was round and made made of stainless it got a look in

The problem always is getting perforated stainless which is £££££, the bit mine is made of is ~£200 a square metre the guy told me. You are also going to need to have an idea about sizing, rough formula is radius squared x pi x length = capacity (move the decimal back one place for the result), so for my 7"x9" drum I get 35oz or about 1kg. You really need a cylinder of at least 4" diameter I'd think to make it worthwhile.

The other thing is how fast the rotisserie turns, the weight should be OK if it can turn a 1.3kg chicken, but if it's too slow you'll get scorching.

Cheers
Matt

by **alans** » Sun Dec 05, 2004 9:41 pm

I'd definatly get the popper whatever you think the final result may be, I waited around for ages for the Alp to become available, then when I finally got it I bought a popper two months later! Poppers are fun, and great for learning about the whole roasting process.

George Foreman Rotisserie roasting

George Foreman Rotisserie roasting

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